


Personal Notes (3) Proud to be a scientist

by longhairshortfuse



Series: Carlos's Secret Diary [3]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Crush, History, M/M, headcanon Carlos backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-19
Updated: 2014-05-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 19:12:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1659314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longhairshortfuse/pseuds/longhairshortfuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Science stuff, some of my head canon backstory for Carlos, an unexpected encounter and Ell gets protective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Personal Notes (3) Proud to be a scientist

Dissociation

It is not often that an anomalous energy scientist and a psychologist end up working on the same problem, unless you live here. There has been a strange pattern of power outages which moved in a complex, continuous motion across town. During the power outages, residents reported sounds like the shriek of hawks overhead and when the power came back on, they claimed feelings as though they had been switched out with someone identical. Probably a form of dissociation disorder brought on by whatever happened to them during the outage. Nobody affected could remember exactly what did happen, amnesia is also a symptom.

Ell interviewed some of the affected residents while I took a postgrad who is a power systems specialist to investigate the outages. We identified a possible pattern in the town grid and used it to predict where the next sequence would hit before setting off with a van full of electric field detection and modification equipment, an electromagnetic pulse generator, a portable soldering kit and a full set of hex-keys, screwdrivers and crowbars. Just in case. We arrived at the first location as the outage was starting so we drove on to the next and set up our equipment, confident in our prediction of where and when it would happen. We were right. As all power shut down, except for our power take-off from the van engine, there was indeed a loud, high pitched, repetitive noise from overhead. We looked up and saw the source of the noise and the reason for the power failures. Some kind of aircraft of unusual design, sleek and shimmering and camouflaged blue to match the sky, with rotors that made a regular metal-on-metal screech as they turned. It appeared to be hovering low above a group of houses, tapping in wirelessly to the power grid then moving on. I caught only the barest glimpse of the pilot before my dependable postgrad operated the electromagnetic pulse generator and gave the aircraft a blast of more energy than it could cope with in an instant. The sudden power surge caused the aircraft to judder alarmingly as if threatening to fall out of the sky before it flew up to a great height and was soon out of sight. But not out of mind. I will have nightmares about that pilot and I will add tentacles to the list of things I am afraid of. Perhaps dissociation is not always a bad thing. 

The other main use of our time was decoding a hidden message coming from the dog park. In a strange place, the dog park is probably the strangest of all. There are barriers all around and notices warning people and their dogs not to enter. There is nowhere to enter. The sound coming from the dog park was a horrible, rending, screaming noise that ate into my being and made my spine weak. We took some recordings and brought them back to the lab for analysis. As far as we can tell, I asked three different postgrads to check independently of each other and they confirmed my translation, the message told us to bring osmium, platinum, gold and very small children and leave them by the barrier. I hoped nobody else could translate it and Ell offered to lock us all in the basement cages overnight in case any one of us feels a compulsion to obey. 

Cecil broadcast our translation on his show. We need to sweep the lab for bugs and cameras again. He talked about someone else today, Steve something-or-other. I'm relieved that he has never spoken about me like that. He doesn't speak about me at all any more and I thought my stupid crush might be lifting until he said goodnight in Spanish and I felt like my knees were dissolving. 

History

Time seems to have passed more quickly than usual, I feel like I have missed a day somewhere and I have a couple of unexplained bruises. It was a slow day at the lab today, which is strange and unusual by itself. Most of the postgrads caught up on some data analysis and writing, Ell taught one of them to build an encephalogram that would determine if a person under examination had any genuine telepathic ability, but they lacked a positive test subject to calibrate it. They added a modification that would enable it to sense if there was a mass hallucination event in progress. I went to the location of the "Apache tracker's" house and took a few energy readings to see if there was an obvious reason for its disappearance and replacement with a meadow. I found nothing any more unusual than normal for here and I got the impression that local residents would rather I didn't put too much effort into looking for him, as one of them bundled me politely into a car and drove me home. I went out later, intending to join the local library, but was refused entry on the basis that my energy sensing equipment constituted a fire hazard. I returned to the lab, went up to my apartment and listened to the radio in private. I seem to be doing that a lot, I think the postgrads are using _listening to the radio_ as a euphemism. I will get the worst offenders to clean out the pterodactyl cage.

Ell and I went out for dinner and a chat. We haven't done that since we arrived, one or other of us has always been on duty but the postgrads are shaping up well and are ready to step up to a bit more responsibility. Still, we didn't go far, only to the pizza place next door. We chatted, but avoided the reasons why we came here. 

I told her about the day I got home from high school and said I was a scientist. All through high school I'd known there was something that put distance between me and my classmates. I felt like didn't think the same way they did. I felt awkward around their artsy banter and struggled to join in so I didn't make close friends and would rather stay home with my books than try to be one of the gang. I was comfortable with science, science made sense to me and my teacher seemed to be the only person who understood. He talked to me about what science meant. We discussed famous scientists and their work. He put on extra lunchtime classes for me so that I didn't have to face the rough and tumble of the canteen queue and the where to sit problem. He told me not to worry, science would be easier to study at college where I'd meet plenty of like-minded people. One day near the end of term he said I shouldn't hide who I was or I'd be miserable. 

That afternoon I went home and told my parents. My mother stuttered and cried. My father sat silent, face like stone. They asked me what I meant. They asked me why I couldn't be an accountant like my cousin. They asked why I didn't choose not to be a scientist, as if I could change such a fundamental part of who I am. They asked who had put silly ideas about science into my head and said there had never been a scientist in our family. Science is bad for your health, your soul. Scientists go to hell. 

"And here we are," replied Ell, before confiding in me that the figures that follow her just behind her left shoulder, who can almost be seen if she flicks her eyes just right but who are gone when she looks, have been replaced by a single shadowy figure. Always the same one, she said, and she kind of likes him, or her, or it. She's not clear on that. Apparently the figure has been quite helpful, waking her up when her alarm fails or reminding her of where she has put things, like the time she accidentally left her keys in the fridge. I asked if it was here, now and she nodded. It likes you too, she said, but thinks you should get out more.

We sat opposite each other in a corner of the dimly-lit restaurant, pushing the remnants of our pizza around and wondering whether to have coffee or another glass of wine. Movement by the door caught my eye and my stomach tightened as I recognised the customer who came in and joined a table occupied by what looked like a mother and daughter. They greeted each other with affection. My heart sank and my face burned as I contemplated that Cecil might have a wife and daughter. Not again. But I noticed the similarities between Cecil and the woman. The little mannerisms, the straight, glossy black hair with the white flash, the shape of the mouth, and I thought, no. Sister and niece. Cecil sat with his back towards our corner. I tried to tear my eyes away and Ell kicked me, grinning. She knew.

She told me to go up and say hello.  
She said I should ask him for a date.  
She suggested I might like to "grow a pair".

I excused myself and escaped through the staff door by the restrooms which led to the shared yard behind the building. I walked round the front towards the lab entrance and saw Cecil's sister and niece leaving the restaurant while Cecil was still inside. Ell was sitting at his table. She was talking, he was listening intently, wearing a look like a rabbit caught in headlights. 

She arrived at her apartment just a few minutes later to find me waiting but she would not tell me what she said to Cecil. Just said hello, she insisted, chitchat. He seems like a nice guy. 

 

_Hi Carlos, I know you're smart but your passwords are really very predictable, once I found your laptop it took me ten minutes to unlock all your private stuff. Here's what I said: Are you serious about all that shit you say about Carlos on the radio? I mean, you like him, you're not taking the piss? He nodded and started to say something. I continued. He's already had his heart broken and if I have to pick up all the little pieces and put them back together because of you, I will hurt you. Badly. Understand? He nodded again and seemed to relax a little. He leaned in more and said quietly: a lot of things around here aren't real, but this is real. I am real. Then be patient and maybe he'll reach for you one day. We locked eyes and he nodded. I could see why you fell for this one.  
Ell_


End file.
